positioning drill 🔥#workinglinegermanshepherd #workingdog #dogtraining #gsd #caninebehaviourist
#braingames #mentalstimulation #enrichment #petnutrition #rainydays
Timing my cliants verbal command will strengthen brolys response time to his her command without adding additional stress to either party.#ecollar #reactivedog #gsd #pregnanttiktok #mothers #dogtraining
One of my highly asked questions by my daschund owners is how do i teach down ?#down #downwarddog #dachshund #doxie #dogtraining #dogtrainingtips #doxiemom
Does your dog know down ? #goldenretriever #training #frisbee #dogsoftiktok #behavior #englishspringerspaniel
Drive can be distracting, and negate them from preforming the correct behavior. Adding steps, gives the dog more to pay attention to, rather then just the reward itself. Mind you, the objective is more about him following my verbal command while in drive mode, conditioning him to think before he acts. #workingline #highdrivedog #malinois #gsd
We all understand the dillema of pet dog owners bringing there dogs in non pet friendly stores. But the amount of handlers that have a hard time with there service or working dog around problamatic dogs doesnt pass the excuse for your working dog not to hold it together. As a service/working dog trainer and AKC evaluator your dog should trust that you will CALMLY assist them if they become unsure what to do. Panicking, reinforces your dogs need to rely on themselves to deal with stressors. This influences the fight, flight and freeze responses, which can potentially reinforce or condition fear and reactivity. #dogfriendly #petfriendly #cats #orangetabby #gooddogs #easton #training #dogtraining #akc #leaveyourpetsathome #therapydog #workingdogs #pets #stores #servicedog #animals #petdogs #companion #toy #breeds ##ethics
Bear, Preacher, Brolley and Louie all on our pack walk this past weekend! This was our first walk where it’s all male dogs. Raising the question if their behavior would be much different than the spilt groups we’ve had in the past. Artificial packs regardless of sex, are determined by age NOT by who’s more dominant. 2/4 dogs here are intact males. Dogs have a good way of organizing themselves especially in controlled environments. Louie being the eldest at 8, bear coming in 2nd at 5, Preacher’s 3rd at 4 and Brolley being the baby at 2 years old brings him in at the bottom of pack. Now just because Brolley the GSD being youngest means he will simply accept his position in the pack. Pack members are always trying to move upward, especially around this adolescent age, pushing every boundary he can. Luckily, being in such a balanced minded group such as this one will help Brolley grow out of his overly cocky mindset. It also helps me understand why Louie was the only one to respond to one of Brolley’s reactions. If Brolley tried to push a boundary with preacher, he’d give a deep warning growl, Bear was sure to remind every one of his position during the walk by consistently marking on the trail, Preacher did attempt to mark over it once but I didn’t allow it to remain respectful to bear. He never attempted marking over it again. Bear would also attempt to respectfully greet the other pack members whenever we stopped for a dip in the creek or a simple break from walking. Packs walks can be great environment to understand your dog’s behavior. I want to give a big thank you for everyone who joined us this month for the October walks! Happy Halloween 🎃
Behavioral Rehabilitation is not a common practice due the large amount of time spent understanding the dogs triggers, prefrences and struggles beforehand. Utalizing my environment, im encouraging behaviors they would normally struggle with on their own or with their owners. The owners will be reintroduced into the training soon, however i want the dogs to see the brighter side of being away from mom and doing things are their own. #fall #october #hikingszn #anxious #seperation #anxiety #anxietyrelief
If your dog isn’t reciprocating training well, start looking backwards, not to say you have to regress, but maybe condition the basics better. Preacher’s amazing as my personal working dog when I’m consistent with his training but taking time off can have a lot of negative impacts to foundation work. I’ve had to pull preacher from certain events because I didn’t think his training was up to par with the events he’s needed to attend. In his defense he’s been battling allergies, hot spots and my crazy work schedule. Today was preachers first day back and we aren’t back to our norm, I will say I have crazy high expectations because of his position but he did very well getting back into working dog mode.
Pack update! Today was honestly our best day yet! The dogs were so comfortable I was exploding with happiness. As a behaviorist I strive for comfortability and consistency. Reactivity is nothing more than a stress response. Ease the nerves, and you eliminate the need to react. We were about an hour in and Ruger and Addie our GSD’s were quick recognize the pack structure and one another. Before Ruger couldn’t walk within a group this large, let alone CHOOSE to lay down. Addie was quick to nip at any dog within her space and she CHOSE not to react or fixate. I’m so glad to be able to work with such dedicated clients that never stop showing up for their dog 💪🏾 BIG SHOUT OUT to Valkyrie, Duck, Ruger, Adelaide and Skylo for being such great representation of pack leaders ♥️ Happy walking!
Certified canine Behaviorist Mahendra McWhite 
